The influence of exfoliation corrosion on the tensile properties of a high strength Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy was investigated by ambient temperature tensile testing, optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). After exfoliation corrosion immersion, blisters and corrosion pits can be seen on the sheet surface, which lead to loss of materials and notches. A number of intergranular cracks are observed to initiate at the bottom of the corrosion-induced notches and propagate rapidly into the bulk materials during tensile. Consequently, exfoliation corrosion results in significant loss of strength and brittle fracture. EBSD results show that the crack propagation path is primarily along the grain boundaries with misorientation of ∼45°, and coincidence site lattice (CSL) boundaries are slightly more resistant to crack.
Although casting is commonly used to process aluminum alloys, powder metallurgy remains a promising technique to develop aluminum based materials for structural and functional applications. The possibility to synthesize Al-Mg-Zr alloys through mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering techniques was explored. Al-10Mg-5Zr and Al-5Mg-1Zr alloyed powders were synthesized through wet ball milling the appropriate amount of elemental powders. The dried milled powders were spark plasma sintered through passing constant pulsed electric current with fixed pulse duration at a pressure of 35 MPa. The samples were vacuum sintered at 450, 500, 550, 600 and 620 °C for 10, 15 and 20 min. The Al-10Mg-5Zr alloy displays poor densification at lower sintering temperatures of 450, 500, 550 and 600 °C. Its sinterability is improved at a temperature of 620 °C whereas sintering temperatures higher than 620 °C leads to partial melting of the alloy. It is possible to sinter the Al-5Mg-1Zr alloy at 450, 500 and 550 °C. The increase of sintering temperature improves its densification and increases its hardness. The Al-5Mg-1Zr alloy displays better densification and hardness compared to Al-10Mg-5Zr alloys.
Effect of holding time on microstructural developments and transformation of precipitates formed at the interface during transient liquid-phase bonding of a duplex stainless steel using a Ni-based amorphous insert alloy was studied. The experimental results reveal that the microstructure of the adjacent base metal varies clearly as a function of holding time. The migration of Cr and Ni elements and the δ→γ transformation seem to play relevant roles in this microstructure evolution. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron prob X-ray microanalysis (EPMA) results indicate the transformation of BN→BN and (N, Mo) boride→BN at the interface with the holding time of 60–1 800 s. N content changes with holding time increasing at locations at the interface might be a controlling factor contributing to this transformation.
Constitutive behavior of nickel-titanium shape memory alloy (Ni-Ti SMA) under hot deformation was investigated by means of the compression tests and the linear fitting method. Based on the true stress-strain curves of Ni-Ti SMA under compression at the strain rates of 0.001-1 s−1 and at the temperatures ranging from 600 to 1 000 °C, the constitutive equation of Ni-Ti SMA with respect to the Zener-Hollomon parameter was established according to the high stress level and the low stress level at various temperatures so as to more accurately describe the deformation behavior of Ni-Ti SMA during hot working. Dynamic recovery and dynamic recrystallization of Ni-Ti SMA occur under hot compression, which lays the theoretical foundation for understanding the constitutive behavior of Ni-Ti SMA.
Carbon-carbon composite (C/C) materials are prone to severe oxidation and volatilization problems. To address these issues, mullite (3Al2O3·2SiO2)/silicon carbide (SiC) coatings were deposited on C/C composite substrates characterized into high and low densities. The coatings were applied by a two-step approach: pack cementation and silica sol based slurry coating processes. The relationship between the microstructure of 3Al2O3·2SiO2/SiC coatings and C/C substrates during isothermal oxidation cycle at 1 500 °C was investigated using X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) mounted with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). The results indicate that the density of the substrates has a marked effect on the coatings. Dense, thick and well-bonded coatings are obtained in the high density substrate. After 106 h of isothermal oxidation, the high density substrate with 3Al2O3·2SiO2/SiC coating offers effective protection as compared to low density substrate suffering recession.
The dispersion, stabilization and rheological properties of the slurry with various relative molecular masses of PVB were studied. The sintering properties, microstructure and dielectric properties of borosilicate glass/Al2O3 composites were also investigated. The intensities of the typical vibrating bands decrease with the decrease of the relative molecular mass of PVB, which demonstrates that the content of butyral groups in PVB binders decreases correspondingly, leading to a rapid decrease in the viscosity of the mixed slurry. The solid content of samples increases with the decrease of the relative molecular mass of PVB, and this further leads to the increase of tape thickness, bulk density and dried-shrinkage coefficient of tapes. The bulk density, relative density, three-point strength and dielectric constant of sintered samples increase with the increase of the solid content, and the shrinkage and dielectric loss decrease. By contrast, samples for PVB-5s exhibit better properties of a bulk density of 3.10 g/cm3, a relative density of 98.1%, a three-point strength of 208 MPa, a ɛr value of 8.01, a tanδ value of 7.6×10−4 at 10 MHz and a well matching with Ag electrodes.
Effects of Zn/P ratio on the structures and properties of glasses with the general composition of (80-x)ZnO-20Fe2O3-xP2O5 (x=40, 45, 50, 55, 60) (molar fraction, %) were investigated. Glass structure was measured by infrared absorption spectrum. Glass density (ρ) was measured by the Archimedes method. Coefficients of thermal expansion (α) and characterization temperature were obtained by a dilatometer. Water durability of each glass was estimated from the dissolution rate(DR)in water at 90 °C for 24 h. With increasing Zn/P ratio, water durability of zinc-iron phosphate glasses increases dramatically without large increase in the characterization temperature. (80-x)ZnO-20Fe2O3-xP2O5 glasses with 0.3≤Zn/P≤0.5 are suit for low-to-mid temperature sealing application for substrates with α<8.0×10−6 °C−1.
The residue curve maps are considered as a powerful tool for the preliminary design of reactive distillation. The residue curve maps of ethyl acetate synthesis reaction were calculated based on the pseudo-homogeneous rate-based kinetic model and the NRTL activity coefficient model. The results show that the unstable node branch emerges from the ethyl acetate/water edge, moving toward the chemical equilibrium surface with the increase of Damköler value (D), and the node reaches the ternary reactive azeotrope when D→∞ eventually. Conceptual design for the ethyl acetate synthesis of reactive distillation based on the residue curve maps is presented at last.
A three-DOF (degree of freedom) planar robot completely restrained and positioned parallel pulled by four wires was studied. The wire driving properties were analyzed through experiments. The restrained three-DOF planar platform was established based on slippery course and bearing, and dSPACE real-time control system was used to perform the platform’s motion control experiment on robot. Based on the kinematic equation and mechanical balance equation of moving platform, the stiffness of the robot system was analyzed and the calibration scheme of the system considering wire tension was put forward. Position servo control experiments were carried out, position servo tracking precision was analyzed, and real-time wire tension was detected. The results show that the moving error of the moving platform tracking is small (the maximum difference is about 3%), and the rotation error is large (the maximum difference is about 12%). The wire tension has wave properties (the wire tension fluctuation is about 10 N).
A novel reconfigurable tracked robot based on four-link mechanism was proposed and released for the complicated terrain environment. This robot was modularly designed and developed, which is composed of one suspension and one pair of symmetrical deployed reconfigurable track modules. This robot can implement multiple locomotion configurations by changing the track configuration, and the geometric theory analysis shows that the track length keeps constant during the process of track reconfiguration. Furthermore, a parameterized geometric model of the robot was established to analyze the kinematic performance of the robot while overcoming various obstacles. To investigate the feasibility and correctness of design theory and robot scheme, an example robot was designed to climb 45° slopes and 200 mm steps, and a group of design parameters of the robot were determined. Finally, A prototype of this robot was developed, and the test results show that the robot own powerful mobility and obstacle overcoming performance, for example, running across obstacle like mantis, extending to stride over entrenchment, standing up to elevate height, and going ahead after overturn.
Structure of the octagon-type ultrasonic motor was proposed and designed so as to allow the motor to drive small actuator. The stator of the motor consisted of the octagon shape elastic body and four rectangular plate ceramics. The four ceramics were attached to outer surfaces of the octagon elastic body. The same phase voltages were applied to the ceramics on horizontal surfaces, and 90° phase difference voltages were applied to the ceramics on vertical surfaces. When the AC voltage with 90° phase difference was applied in ceramics, the elliptical displacement of unimorph bars was generated by generating bending vibration. To find the maximum displacement model that generates elliptical displacement at the centers of the inner surfaces, the finite element analysis program ATILA was used. The analyzed results were compared to the experimental results. As a result, the speed and torque are increased linearly by increasing the input voltage and the speed of motors can be controlled by changing the applied voltages.
Shape optimization of mechanical components is one of the issues that have been considered in recent years. Different methods were presented such as adaptive biological for reducing costs and increasing accuracy. The effects of step factor, the number of control points and the definition way of control points coordinates in convergence rate were studied. A code was written using ANSYS Parametric Design Language (APDL) which receives the studied parameters as input and obtains the optimum shape for the components. The results show that for achieving successful optimization, step factor should be in a specific range. It is found that the use of any coordinate system in defining control points coordinates and selection of any direction for stimulus vector of algorithm will also result in optimum shape. Furthermore, by increasing the number of control points, some non-uniformities are created in the studied boundary. Achieving acceptable accuracy seems impossible due to the creation of saw form at the studied boundary which is called “saw position”.
An alternative method was introduced for voltage sag source location based on S and TT transformed disturbance powers. It is done to avoid the wrong and inconclusive detection of conventional disturbance power method proposed in the literature. Unlike in the case of the traditional method, the proposed method first transforms the recorded voltage and current during the sag event to some special features before calculating the new version of disturbance powers. The effectiveness of the proposed method has been verified through simulation and actual data from an industrial power system. The results show that the presented method can correctly detect the location of voltage sag source.
The vehicle model of the recirculating ball-type electric power steering (EPS) system for the pure electric bus was built. According to the features of constrained optimization for multi-variable function, a multi-objective genetic algorithm (GA) was designed. Based on the model of system, the quantitative formula of the road feel, sensitivity, and operation stability of the steering were induced. Considering the road feel and sensitivity of steering as optimization objectives, and the operation stability of steering as constraint, the multi-objective GA was proposed and the system parameters were optimized. The simulation results show that the system optimized by multi-objective genetic algorithm has better road feel, steering sensibility and steering stability. The energy of steering road feel after optimization is 1.44 times larger than the one before optimization, and the energy of portability after optimization is 0.4 times larger than the one before optimization. The ground test was conducted in order to verify the feasibility of simulation results, and it is shown that the pure electric bus equipped with the recirculating ball-type EPS system can provide better road feel and better steering portability for the drivers, thus the optimization methods can provide a theoretical basis for the design and optimization of the recirculating ball-type EPS system.
The cutoff wavenumbers of elliptical waveguides were calculated by using isogeomtric analysis method (IGA). With NURBS basis functions in IGA, the computational model was consistent with geometric model imported from CAD system. The field variable (longitudinal electric/magnetic field) was constructed by the same NURBS basis functions as the representation of geometric model. In the refinement procedure used to get a more accurate solution, communication with original CAD system is unnecessary and the geometric shape is kept unchanged. The Helmholtz equation is weakened to a set of general eigenvalue equation by virtual work principal with discretized degree-of-freedom on control points. Elliptical waveguides with three typical eccentricities, 0.1, 0.5 and 0.9, are calculated by IGA with different size mesh. The first four cutoff wavenumbers are obtained even in coarse mesh and the RMS of first 25 cutoff wavenumbers has much more swift convergence rate with decreasing the mesh size than traditional FEM. The accuracy and robustness of the proposed method are validated by elliptical waveguides, and also the method can be applied to waveguides with arbitrary cross sections.
The detection of outliers and change points from time series has become research focus in the area of time series data mining since it can be used for fraud detection, rare event discovery, event/trend change detection, etc. In most previous works, outlier detection and change point detection have not been related explicitly and the change point detections did not consider the influence of outliers, in this work, a unified detection framework was presented to deal with both of them. The framework is based on ALARCON-AQUINO and BARRIA’s change points detection method and adopts two-stage detection to divide the outliers and change points. The advantages of it lie in that: firstly, unified structure for change detection and outlier detection further reduces the computational complexity and make the detective procedure simple; Secondly, the detection strategy of outlier detection before change point detection avoids the influence of outliers to the change point detection, and thus improves the accuracy of the change point detection. The simulation experiments of the proposed method for both model data and actual application data have been made and gotten 100% detection accuracy. The comparisons between traditional detection method and the proposed method further demonstrate that the unified detection structure is more accurate when the time series are contaminated by outliers.
In this work, focusing on the demerit of AEA (Alopex-based evolutionary algorithm) algorithm, an improved AEA algorithm (AEA-C) which was fused AEA with clonal selection algorithm was proposed. Considering the irrationality of the method that generated candidate solutions at each iteration of AEA, clonal selection algorithm could be applied to improve the method. The performance of the proposed new algorithm was studied by using 22 benchmark functions and was compared with original AEA given the same conditions. The experimental results show that the AEA-C clearly outperforms the original AEA for almost all the 22 benchmark functions with 10, 30, 50 dimensions in success rates, solution quality and stability. Furthermore, AEA-C was applied to estimate 6 kinetics parameters of the fermentation dynamics models. The standard deviation of the objective function calculated by the AEA-C is 41.46 and is far less than that of other literatures’ results, and the fitting curves obtained by AEA-C are more in line with the actual fermentation process curves.
To evaluate the performance of real time kinematic (RTK) network algorithms without applying actual measurements, a new method called geometric precision evaluation methodology (GPEM) based on covariance analysis was presented. Three types of multiple reference station interpolation algorithms, including partial derivation algorithm (PDA), linear interpolation algorithms (LIA) and least squares condition (LSC) were discussed and analyzed. The geometric dilution of precision (GDOP) was defined to describe the influence of the network geometry on the interpolation precision, and the different GDOP expressions of above-mentioned algorithms were deduced. In order to compare geometric precision characteristics among different multiple reference station network algorithms, a simulation was conducted, and the GDOP contours of these algorithms were enumerated. Finally, to confirm the validation of GPEM, an experiment was conducted using data from Unite State Continuously Operating Reference Stations (US-CORS), and the precision performances were calculated according to the real test data and GPEM, respectively. The results show that GPEM generates very accurate estimation of the performance compared to the real data test.
Nano fluid is considered to be a class of high efficient heat transfer fluid created by dispersing some special solid nanoparticles (normally less than 100 nm) in traditional heat transfer fluid. The present experiment was conducted aiming at investigating the forced heat transfer characteristics of aqueous copper (Cu) nanofluid at varying concentration of Cu nano-particles in different flow regimes (300<Re⩽16 000). The forced convective heat transfer enhancement is available both in the laminar and turbulent flow with increasing the concentration. Especially, the enhancement rate increases dramatically in laminar flow regime, for instance, the heat transfer coefficient of Cu/water nanofluid increases by two times at around Re=2 000 compared with that of base fluid water, and averagely increases by 62% at 1% volume fraction. However, the heat transfer coefficient of Cu/water decreases sharply in the transition flow regime. Furthermore, it has the trend that the heat transfer coefficient displays worse with increasing the concentration.
In order to investigate the effect of sampling frequency and time on pressure fluctuations, the three-dimensional unsteady numerical simulations were conducted in a circulating water pump. Through comparison of turbulence models with hydraulic performance experiment, SST k-ω model was confirmed to study the rational determination of sampling frequency and time better. The Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) technology was then adopted to process those fluctuating pressure signals obtained. On these bases, the characteristics of pressure fluctuations acting on the tongue were discussed. It is found that aliasing errors decrease at higher sampling frequency of 17 640 Hz, but not at a lower sampling frequency of 1 764 Hz. Correspondingly, an output frequency range ten-times wider is obtained at 17 640 Hz. Compared with 8R, when the sampling time is shorter, the amplitudes may be overvalued, and the frequencies and amplitudes of low-frequency fluctuations can not be well predicted. The frequencies at the tongue are in good agreement with the values calculated by formula and the frequency compositions less than the blade passing frequency are accurately predicted.
A thermodynamic model was developed to analyze the performance of cogeneration plant based on irreversible recuperative Brayton cycle. A parameter, dimensionless total useful energy rate (DTUER), was used as the criterion for performance optimization of cogeneration plant. The effects of cycle parameters, internal irreversibilities, and recuperator efficiency on maximum DTUER and on the efficiency at maximum DTUER were numerically investigated. The relation between DTUER and cogeneration efficiency was also analyzed. The results show that there exists an optimal compressor pressure ratio which maximizes the DTUER. It is also found that there exists an optimal power-to-heat ratio which results in a dual-maximum DTUER.
The aim of this work was to see whether Pseudomonas putida NWU12, Pseudomonas fluorescence NWU65, Vibrio fluvialis NWU37 and Ewingella americana NWU59 are beneficial to plants and are able to promote plant growth and development when inoculated as plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). The four rhizobacteria were tested in vitro for PGPR activities and on spinach and pepper in pot experiments. The inoculants are all positive for ammonia (NH3), catalase, hydrogen cyanide (HCN), phosphate solubilization and siderophore production. Among the inoculants, E. americana NWU59 is oxidase negative. P. putida NWU12 and P. fluorescence NWU65 are producing indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). The inoculants exhibit some PGPR activities and thus tested in the screen-house. Treatments are control (water) and the four inoculants. Rhizobacterial inoculants increase spinach (17.14%–21.43%) and pepper (15.0%–37.5%) plant heights over the control. Such inoculants have the potential of improving plant yield components and may be used as biofertilizer.
To reveal stress distribution and crack propagation of Brazilian discs under impact loads, dynamic tests were conducted with SHPB (split Hopkinson pressure bar) device. Stress states of specimens were monitored with strain gauges on specimen surface and SHPB bars. The failure process of specimen was recorded by ultra speed camera FASTCAM SA1.1 (675 000 fps). Stress histories from strain gauges offer comprehensive information to evaluate the stress equilibrium of specimen in time and space. When a slowly rising load (with loading rates less than 1 200 N/s for d 50 mm bar) is applied, there is usually good stress equilibrium in specimen. The stress distribution after equilibrium is similar to its static counterpart. And the first crack initiates at the disc center and propagates along the load direction. But with the front of incident wave becoming steep, it is hard for specimens to get to stress equilibrium. The first crack may appear anywhere on the specimen together with multiple randomly distributed secondary cracks. For a valid dynamic Brazil test with stress equilibrium, the specimen will break into two halves neatly. While for tests with stress disequilibrium, missing strap may be found when broken halves of specimens are put together. For those specimens broken up neatly at center but having missing wedges at the loading areas, it is usually subjected to local buckling from SHPB bars.
The bioleaching of chalcopyrite was investigated using a pure and mixed culture consisting of iron-oxidizing Leptospirillum ferriphilum (L. ferriphilum) and sulfur-oxidizing Acidthiobacillus thiooxidans (A. thiooxidans). The electrochemical tests were conducted to investigate the bioleaching behavior of chalcopyrite by various bacteria. Bioleaching efficiency of chalcopyrite in mixed culture is higher than that in the pure culture of L. ferriphilum alone. The iron-oxidizing L. ferriphilum plays a dominant role during bioleaching of chalcopyrite in the mixed culture of L. ferriphilum and A. thiooxidans. During bioleaching, certain values of redox potential are beneficial to the decomposition of chalcopyrite. Jarosite and sulfur are observed as products of bioleaching. The addition of A. thiooxidans during leaching by L. ferriphilum can change the electrochemical control steps of leaching. The corrosion current density is substantially promoted in the culture involving bacteria, especially in the mixed culture.
Distinguishing geochemical anomalies from background is a basic task in exploratory geochemistry. The derivation of geochemical anomalies from stream sediment geochemical data and the decomposition of these anomalies into their component patterns were described. A set of stream sediment geochemical data was obtained for 1 880 km2 of the Pangxidong area, which is in the southern part of the recently recognized Qinzhou-Hangzhou joint tectonic belt. This belt crosses southern China and tends to the northwest (NE) direction. The total number of collected samples was 7 236, and the concentrations of Ag, Au, Cu, As, Pb and Zn were measured for each sample. The spatial combination distribution law of geochemical elements and principal component analysis (PCA) were used to construct combination models for the identification of combinations of geochemical anomalies. Spectrum-area (S-A) fractal modeling was used to strengthen weak anomalies and separate them from the background. Composite anomaly modeling was combined with fractal filtering techniques to process and analyze the geochemical data. The raster maps of Au, Ag, Cu, As, Pb and Zn were obtained by the multifractal inverse distance weighted (MIDW) method. PCA was used to combine the Au, Ag, Cu, As, Pb, and Zn concentration values. The S-A fractal method was used to decompose the first component pattern achieved by the PCA. The results show that combination anomalies from a combination of variables coincide with the known mineralization of the study area. Although the combination anomalies cannot reflect local anomalies closely enough, high-anomaly areas indicate good sites for further exploration for unknown deposits. On this basis, anomaly and background separation from combination anomalies using fractal filtering techniques can provide guidance for later work.
An online method using continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry (CF-IRMS) interfaced with a Gasbench II was presented to determine chlorine stable isotope composition. Silver chloride (AgCl) was quantitatively derived from chloride by using silver nitrate (AgNO3), and then was reacted with iodomethane (CH3I) to produce methyl chloride (CH3Cl). A GasBench II equipped with a PoraPlot Q column was used to separate CH3Cl from any other gas species. Finally, chlorine stable isotope analysis was carried out on CH3Cl introduced to the IRMS in a helium stream via an active open split. The minimum amount of Cl used in this method is of the order of 1.4 μmol. Inter-laboratory and inter-technique comparisons show that the total uncertainty incorporating both the precision and accuracy of this method is better than 0.007%. Furthermore, ten seawaters sampled from different locations have a narrow δ37Cl value range from −0.008% to 0.010%, with a mean value of (0.000±0.006)%. This supports the assumption that any seawater can be representative of standard mean ocean chloride (SMOC) and used as an international reference material.
This work aims to understand the relationship between the member angle limit and the energy ratio for 24 test samples of composite beams and CFT square steel tube columns. This work also compares the formula applicability for member angle limit with the previous test result to provide the basic data for the design of composite beam-CFT column. The evaluation of the member angle limit was performed with concrete compressive strength (f′C=22.16 MPa, 30.49 MPa), breadth-to-thickness ratio (B/t=25.0, 33.3, 43.5), and axial capacity ratio (N/N0)=0, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5) as the main variables of the test samples. For the relationship between the member angle limit (Ru) and the energy ratio (ES/EC), the test result shows that the energy ratio becomes lower as the axial capacity ratio and the breadth-to-thickness ratio increase. The energy ratio is lower for the Type B test sample compared with that of Types A and C. For the formula suggested by SATO, the test samples are distributed evenly for comparison between test values and the member angle limit; however, other formulas indicate a deviation. Specifically, for the comparison between Ru,cal and Ru (Test), Maeda’s formula shows severe deviation.
The stability of the surrounding rock mass around cross tunnel in the right bank slope of Dagangshan hydropower station, in the southwestern China, was analyzed by microseismic monitoring as well as numerical simulations. The realistic failure process analysis code (abbreviated as RFPA3D) was employed to reproduce the initiation, propagation, coalescence and interactions of micro-fractures, the evolution of associated stress fields and acoustic emission (AE) activities during the whole failure processes of the surrounding rock mass around cross tunnel. Combined with microseismic activities by microseismic monitoring on the right bank slope, the spatial-temporal evolution and the micro-fracture precursor characteristics during the complete process of progressive failure of the surrounding rock mass around cross tunnel were discussed and the energy release law of the surrounding rock mass around the cross tunnel was obtained. The result shows that the precursor characteristic of microfractures occurring in rock mass is an effective approach to early warn catastrophic damage of rock mass around cross tunnel. Moreover, the heterogeneity of rock mass is the source and internal cause of the failure precursor of rock mass.
A series of triaxial compression tests for frozen clay were performed by K0DCGF (freezing with non-uniform temperature under loading after K0 consolidation) method and GFC (freezing with non-uniform temperature without experiencing K0 consolidation) method at various confining pressures and thermal gradients. The experimental results indicate that the triaxial compression strength for frozen clay in K0DCGF test increases with the increase of confining pressure, but it decreases as the confining pressure increases further in GFC test. In other words, the compression strength for frozen clay with identical confining pressure decreases with the increase in thermal gradient both in K0DCGF test and GFC test. The strength of frozen clay in K0DCGF test is dependent of pore ice strength, soil particle strength and interaction between soil skeleton and pore ice. The decrease of water content and distance between soil particles leads to the decrease of pore size and the increase of contact area between particles in K0DCGF test, which further results in a higher compression strength than that in GFC test. The compression strength for frozen clay with thermal gradient can be descried by strength for frozen clay with a uniform temperature identical to the temperature at the height of specimen where the maximum tensile stress appears.
Damage alarming and safety evaluation using long-term monitoring data is an area of significant research activity for long-span bridges. In order to extend the research in this field, the damage alarming technique for bridge expansion joints based on long-term monitoring data was developed. The effects of environmental factors on the expansion joint displacement were analyzed. Multiple linear regression models were obtained to describe the correlation between displacements and the dominant environmental factors. The damage alarming index was defined based on the multiple regression models. At last, the X-bar control chart was utilized to detect the abnormal change of the displacements. Analysis results reveal that temperature and traffic condition are the dominant environmental factors to influence the displacement. When the confidence level of X-bar control chart is set to be 0.003, the false-positive indications of damage can be avoided. The damage sensitivity analysis shows that the proper X-bar control chart can detect 0.1 cm damage-induced change of the expansion joint displacement. It is reasonably believed that the proposed technique is robust against false-positive indication of damage and suitable to alarm the possible future damage of the expansion joints.
In-service hydrocarbons must be transported at high temperature and high pressure to ease the flow and prevent the solidification of the wax fraction. The pipeline containing hot oil will expand longitudinally due to the rise in temperature. If such expansion is resisted, for example by frictional effects over a kilometer or so of pipeline, compressive axial stress will be built up in the pipe-wall. The compressive forces are often so large that they induce vertical buckling of buried pipelines, which can jeopardize the structural integrity of the pipeline. A typical initial imperfection named continuous support mode of submarine pipeline was studied. Based on this type of initial imperfection, the analytical solution of vertical thermal buckling was introduced and an elastic-plasticity finite element analysis (FEA) was developed. Both the analytical and the finite element methodology were applied to analyze a practice in Bohai Gulf, China. The analyzing results show that upheaval buckling is most likely to build up from the initial imperfection of the pipeline and the buckling temperature depends on the amplitude of initial imperfection. With the same amplitude of initial imperfection, the triggering temperature difference of upheaval buckling increases with covered depth of the pipeline, the soil strength and the friction between the pipeline and subsoil.
For the purpose of inventing a new seismic retrofitting method for the reinforced high strength concrete (HSC) T-section beam using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheet, three series, a total of twelve T-section beams with nine specimens confined by CFRP sheet in the plastic zone and three control beams were conducted up to failure under four-point bending test. The effectiveness of confining CFRP sheet on improving the flexural ductility of unstrengthened T-section beams was studied. The parameters such as the width and the thickness of CFRP sheet and the type of T-section were analyzed. The experimental results show that ductility and rotation capacity of plastic hinge can be improved by the confinement of CFRP sheet, and the ductility indices increase with the increment of width and thickness of CFRP sheet. A plastic rotation model considering the width of CFRP sheet and the effect of flange of T-section beam is proposed on the basis of the model of BAKER, and the test results show a good agreement with the perdicted results. The relevant construction suggestions for seismic retrofitting design of beam-slabs system in cast-in-place framework structure are presented.
The fatigue behavior, indirect tensile strength (ITS) and resilient modulus test results for warm mix asphalt (WMA) as well as hot mix asphalt (HMA) at different ageing levels were evaluated. Laboratory-prepared samples were aged artificially in the oven to simulate short-term and long term ageing in accordance with AASHTO R30 and then compared with unaged specimens. Beam fatigue testing was performed using beam specimens at 25 °C based on AASHTO T321 standard. Fatigue life, bending stiffness and dissipated energy for both unaged and aged mixtures were calculated using four-point beam fatigue test results. Three-point bending tests were performed using semi-circular bend (SCB) specimens at −10 °C and the critical mode I stress intensity factor KI was then calculated using the peak load obtained from the load-displacement curve. It is observed that Sasobit and Rheofalt warm mix asphalt additives have a significant effect on indirect tensile strength, resilient modulus, fatigue behavior and stress intensity factor of aged and unaged mixtures.
Although either absolute speed or speed difference can be considered as a measure for speed consistency, few researches consider both in practice. The factor analysis method was introduced to extract an optimal number of factors from numerous original measures. The freeway diverging zone was divided into four elements, namely the upstream, the diverge area, the downstream and the exit ramp. Operating speeds together with individual vehicle speeds were collected at each element with radar guns. Following the factor analysis procedure, two factors, which explain 96.722% of the variance in the original data, were retained from the initial seven speed measures. According to the loadings after Varimax rotation, the two factors are clearly classified into two categories. The first category is named “speed scale” reflecting the absolute speed, and the other one is named “speed dispersion” interpreting speed discreteness. Then, the weighted score of speed consistency for each diverge area is given in terms of linear combination of the two retained factors. To facilitate the level classification of speed consistency, the weighted scores are normalized in the range of (0, 1.0). The criterion for speed consistency classification is given as 0≤FN<0.30, good consistency; 0.30≤FN<0.60, fair consistency; 0.60≤FN≤1.00, poor consistency. The validation by comparing with previously developed measures shows that the proposed measure is acceptable in evaluating speed consistency.
Referring to the 1 248 survey data of rural population in 14 provinces of China, the influencing factors of trip time choice were analyzed. Based on the basic theory of disaggregate model and its modelling method, nine grades were selected as the alternatives of trip time, the variables affecting time choice and the method getting their values were determined, and a multinomial logit (MNL) model was developed. Another 1 200 trip data of rural population were selected to testify the model’s validity. The result shows that the maximum absolute error of each period between calculated value and statistic is 3.6%, so MNL model has high calculation accuracy.